Molson, Charles Robin Carington

Charles ROBIN Carington Molson

In the first summer of Robin’s life, he was taken to Tadoussac by his parents. His father, Jack, had suggested they bring their baby to Metis but his mother, Doris Carington (Smith), wanted to continue her family’s tradition.
Doris won.
As a young boy, Robin was drawn to the St. Lawrence and the Saguenay. He would sail with his friend Jimmy Williams in Tadoussac Bay in his “Empress of Tadoussac”, one fateful summer nearly drowning them both. After this misfortune, he developed a healthy respect for river currents, tides, and moods. His nickname became “Boat”, and for the remainder of his life he was known as “Boat Molson” by his Tadoussac friends.
Robin’s life was a full one. His interests were widespread, his enthusiasms broad. From the time he was a schoolboy at Selwyn House in Montreal and through Bishop’s College School in Lennoxville he made friends easily, many of these friendships enduring until the end of his life.
While a student at BCS, he was given special permission from his Housemaster Lewis Evans to have unlimited use of the workshop, where he built his dinghy. It helped enormously to have had Lewis as his next-door neighbor in Tadoussac! Other youthful adventures included bicycling in France, motorcycling in Norway, skiing in the Swiss Alps and even climbing the Matterhorn.
Following his studies at McGill and the University of Oslo, Robin joined the Federal Department of Fisheries and was posted to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where he had his beloved sailboat “Sea Fever” built. He married Carolyn Strong in 1959, and five years later he was transferred to Ottawa, a little closer to Tadoussac. Now he was able to continue his family tradition by spending his summer holidays here with his young family.
Retiring in the late 1980s due to the declining health of his father, Robin assumed the responsibility of the Canadian Heritage of Quebec, a charitable organization founded by his father and James Beattie in 1960. He spent the rest of his life devoted to its operations and principles. He put his father’s dreams into action, opening various sites as museums, galleries, and for summer rental. The Musee Maritime in Tadoussac (in which many of his own boat models are displayed) and the picnic site at Bon Desir (where he loved picking cranberries) were among his most favorite. New acquisitions were made with wisdom and discernment. During Robin’s seventeen years as President, he earned the esteem of his colleagues, the admiration of his partners in the field, and deep affection of the organization’s employees, volunteers, supporters and friends. He remained president until his death in 2005.
Robin’s many lifelong interests included sailing, building model boats, photography, and astronomy. His numerous friends could always count on him to come through with every commitment he made. He was an attentive and faithful companion to many dogs, and in his family life, he was a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather. Above all, he was a man of compassion, patience, humility, and good humour.
Tadoussac had a profound influence in Robin’s life. His happiness upon arriving here was heartfelt; his saddest days were those when he had to leave.